Professor Ruth Pennybacker or "Miss Pennybacker", as she preferred, joined the U.H. faculty in 1935. Her application to the university included a letter of recommendation written by the distinguished Texas historian and writer J. Frank Dobie. Pennybacker, a 1934 Vassar graduate, went to work in the newly formed English Department at the University of Houston where she taught freshman composition and creative writing. A driving force in the creation of the U.H. creative writing program, Pennybacker also founded the Harvest, a campus publication for students, poets, and creative writers.

The Ruth Pennybacker Collection consists of the teaching aids she used in class, photocopies of plays, news clippings, and programmes. Included in the collection is a scrapbook crafted in 1967 by her students, colleagues, and friends as a tribute to Miss Pennybacker.

Conditions Governing Access:

Open for research.

Conditions Governing Use:

Special Collections owns the physical items in our collections, but copyright normally belongs to the creator of the materials or their heirs. The researcher has full responsibility for determining copyright status, obtaining permission to publish from copyright holders, and abiding by current copyright laws when publishing or displaying copies of Special Collections material in print or electronic form. For more information, consult the appropriate librarian. Reproduction decisions will be made by Special Collections staff on a case-by-case basis.

Professor Ruth Pennybacker Papers. Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries

Detailed List of Contents

Classroom Curriculum Material

Scope and Contents

This series contains 24 folders, arranged alphabetically. The majority of these contain news clippings, correspondence and plays used as part of the classroom curriculum.

Box

Folder

1

1

Article Clippings

2

Brochures

3

Correspondence to Pennybacker

4

Correspondence to Pennybacker (personal)

5

Drama Notebook 1969

6

Drama Notebook 1970

7

Guest Book

8

Personal Items

9

Play - "A Separate Peace"

10

Play - "Absent Friends"

11

Play - "Betrayal - 1977"

12

Play - "Black Cycle"

13

Play - "Blinded by the Light"

14

Play - "Breakfast Past Noon"

15

Play - "Brontosaurus"

16

Play - "Cabin 12"

17

Play - "Evolution of People's Theatre"

18

Play - "Firebugs"

19

Play - "Freshwater"

20

Play: - "Good and Faithful Servant"

21

Play - No Title

22

Play - "Reunion"

23

Play - "Three Women"

24

Play - "Three Women"

Play Readers Group Material

Scope and Contents

This series contains 25 folders, arranged alphabetically. These folders consist of spiral notebooks and correspondence from the Play Readers group, organized chronologically from 1978-1981. Also contained in this series are poems, programmes and a copy of Pennybacker's 1934 thesis.

Box

Folder

1

25-26

Play Readers 1970-1971

27-28

Play Readers 1972-1973

29-30

Play Readers 1973-1974

31-32

Play Readers April 1974

33-34

Play Readers 1974-1975

35-36

Play Readers 1975-1976

37-38

Play Readers 1976-1977

39

Play Readers 1977-1978

Box

Folder

2

1

Play Readers 1977-1978

2-3

Play Readers 1979

4

Play Readers 1980

5

Play Readers 1981

6

Play Readers undated

7

Poems by Gaye Doehring

8

Programmes

9

Programmes - The Austin Symphony Orchestra

10

Programmes - Royal Shakespeare Company

11

Thesis by Pennybacker

Scrapbook 1967

Scope and Contents

This series contains a scrapbook dated 1967, that contains letters, notes and tributes to Miss Pennybacker. Included in the scrapbook are letters written by Joseph M. Doggett, Philip G. Hoffman, John C. Allred, John Q. Anderson, Vassar Miller, and Kenneth Carbajal.